Babel (episode)
Series: DS9 Season: 1 Original Airdate: 1993-01-24 Production Number: 405 Year: 2369 Stardate: 46423.7 Story by: Sally Caves & Ira Steven Behr Teleplay by: Michael McGreevey & Naren Shankar Directed by: Paul Lynch For information on the planet, see Babel (planet) A virus infects the station's residents, making everyone unable to speak coherently. Summary Chief Miles O'Brien and his crew work in the docking pylon, trying to free a crew stuck aboard their vessel. Jaheel, a freighter captain, complains to O'Brien about his ship's antimatter flow converter; the repairs, which are behind schedule, are threatening a perishable product he must deliver. Later, when Captain Benjamin Sisko complains about a faulty replicator, O'Brien proceeds grumpily to fix it. After repairs are completed, O'Brien replicates some coffee as a test. The coffee tastes fine, but O'Brien has just unknowingly activated a long-dormant device hidden in the replicator system on Deep Space 9. In Quark's Place, an angry customer complains to Quark about his Kohlanese stew, forcing Quark to taste a sample of it. Odo recommends Quark ask O'Brien to fix his replicators, but warns wryly that O'Brien is a very busy man. After Odo leaves the bar, Quark breaks into the Starfleet computer system to find the location of a replicator on the station that isn't '' broken. Back in Ops, Sisko thanks O'Brien for fixing the replicator; he also compliments the chief's wife, Keiko, on being a good teacher in the station's new school, which she recently opened. When Major Kira Nerys is speaking with O'Brien a moment later, his talk turns to jibberish, which no one can understand. He appears unable to comprehend anything said by anyone. Doctor Julian Bashir diagnoses the Chief as suffering from aphasia, where the brain incorrectly interprets sights and sounds. As the senior staff discussed O'Brien's condition, Jadzia Dax is suddenly stricken with the virus, unable to communicate with the people around her. In the infirmary, Bashir discovers the virus infects the brain's synapses; as other crew members are afflicted, Sisko orders DS9 to be placed in quarantine immediately. Odo notices that business is booming in Quark's Place. When questioned, Quark lies and says his replicators were fixed by Rom; in fact, Quark is surreptitiously using the replicator of a quarantined crew member. Odo, disguised as a piece of furniture, catches Quark in the act soon later. Sisko finds his son Jake on the promenade after having been playing with classmate Nog. The concerned father orders his son back to their quarters. Sisko is now confronted by Jaheel, the impatient freighter captain, who is told to stay put. Back in Ops, Sisko begins to suspect the replicators are spreading the virus. When Odo informs them that Quark has been supplying his entire menu with an infected replicator, Bashir checks the station's air, and determines that the virus has mutated into an airborne pathogen. They are now ''all infected; however, the virus has different incubation periods in different people. While searching with a tricorder, Kira finds the device hidden in the replicator's pattern generator. By now, 60 percent of the station is infected with the virus. The replicators were creating the virus within the food they were replicating (at the molecular level). While Kira initially suspects Cardassians are to blame, Doctor Bashir discovers that the virus is Bajoran in origin, placed aboard the station (possibly) by the Bajoran Resistance years ago; the device is 18 years old, the same age as DS9 itself, built in 2351. As Sisko takes Jake, recently afflicted, to crew quarters converted into a hospital ward, he tries to console Dax and O'Brien, but they still can't comprehend one another. The situation soon worsens, as O'Brien is found unconscious in his hospital bed. The virus has attacked O'Brien's autonomic nervous system, threatening his life. Using her old contacts in the Bajoran Resistance, Kira tries to discover the creator of the virus. Her search leads her to a Dekon Elig, a Bajoran Resistance member, but he is deceased, his death certificate having been witnessed by a Surmak Ren, who was also a member of the underground. Surmak Ren has now been repatrioted to Bajor and is currently a medical administrator. When she contacts him about the aphasia virus, he rudely terminates the connection. Odo warns Quark that, with DS9's current skeleton staff, Quark would be held accountable for any thefts occurring during the quarantine. In the infirmary, as Doctor Bashir continues searching for a cure, he is overcome by the virus, suddenly speaking garbage to the medical computer. Sisko allows Kira to pilot a runabout (breaking quarantine) to Bajor to confront the uncooperative Surmak Ren. She beams him, without his permission, to the runabout, returning to DS9 to help with the cure. On DS9, Jaheel (the impatient freighter captain) decides to leave the station without permission. However, the docking clamps are still securing his vessel to the space station. As he increases power to his engines, the mooring clamps become stuck in place. The freighter's engine begins to overheat, threatening to explode (and take half the docking ring with it). Odo suggests they explode the mooring clamps to blow the ship clear of the station, but finds himself soon working alone, as Sisko now succumbs to the sickness. When Odo broadcasts a call for help throughout the entire station, it is answered in the form of Quark, one of the few people left unafflicted. Quark assumes control of Ops, beaming Odo directly to the docking ring; Kira is absolutely stunned to find Quark answering her hail as she returns to the station. Once aboard, however, she becomes the virus' latest unintelligible victim. Odo rescues the babbling freighter captain and jettisons the doomed ship just in time. Surmak Ren, whose memory is refreshed about the virus once he looks at Doctor Bashir's notes, quickly develops an antidote for the virus, curing everyone. Memorable Quotes "There's an old Ferengi saying: 'Never ''ask when you can take.'" : - Quark "''Who said anything about ''volunteering, we'll haggle over my price later." : - Quark "''Dog! Fellow! Distance!" "Yeah, yeah, tell me about it." : - Babel virus victim, Odo Background Information MISC. NOTES Links and References Guest Stars *Lee Brooks as Aphasia Victim *Matthew Faison as Surmak Ren *Geraldine Farrell as Galis Blin *Todd Feder as Federation Male *Jack Kehler as Jaheel *Frank Novak as Businessman *Kathleen Wirt as Aphasia Victim *Bo Zenga as Asoth References Largo V Previous episode: A Man Alone Episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Next episode: Captive Pursuit Category:DS9 episodes